Hello Again!

I just spend only three short days in Singapore, and it was definitely a change in pace from my previous port. The boat ported in Penang, Malaysia and a group of us flew to the country of Singapore. I knew it was the cleanest country in the world, but I wasnt aware it is also the safest. The crime rate in the country is about %.0023, and there were only two murders the entire past year. Different fines in the country include things like chewing gum, not flushing a toilet, and the death penalty for any drug use. Arriving into the country, I saw all of this come to life. Singapore was beautiful, and the streets were impeccably clean. There are a total of 37 malls, and I noticed that when at every turn there was a different mall. Everyone spoke English, and they were all very friendly. Only half of the countries population is actually from Singapore, and the other half are from out of the country who have moved there. So needless to say walking around the streets our group fit in better than we have in previous ports.

I was only in Singapore for one full day, so I only had limited time to do things. I had heard that Singapore had one of the best night lives in the world so I had to experience that (and yes I tried a Singapore Sling). There was a large area called Clarks Quay, with many different clubs, bars and restaurants. Thats where I spent my time the first night, after a delicious dinner at a Thai restaurant. Walking around Clarks Quay we saw a restaurant called The BK Whopper Bar, which was a Burger King turned into a club/bar thing. It was by far the most interesting Burger King I had ever seen.

The following day, I got up and got Starbucks for the first time since being gone. It was quite a treat. I did a little shopping; we felt it was necessary to do considering Singapore has so many malls! Then I went to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, everyone please Google it right away if you dont know what it is. It is one of the nicest hotels in the world and it is absolutely amazing. It is three buildings all connected by one rooftop over looking the river. Walking into the hotel, I immediately felt underdressed and out of place, but we walked around like we owned it. There were a million restaurants and a giant high end shopping mall connected to it. I ended up staying there for about five hours. First, a few of us snuck our way up to the rooftop, without paying and even managed to get ourselves into the pool area that is only for guests. The view was incredible, and you could see the entire city. The pool was an infinity pool off the edge of this massive hotel, which was a sight to see of its own. We were soon discovered and had to leave. Then we hit the mall. This mall contained a million stores, all in which I couldnt afford anything. But it was fun to walk by and window shop. It had a Louis Vuitton store that was three levels and on the river. It was the most extravagant store I had ever seen in my entire life. After drooling over all the cool things I saw at the mall, I decided it was time to get out of there. That night, I went on the tallest ferris wheel in the world. It wasnt your average ferris wheel though; it was like an extremely classy gondola that held about fifteen people. For the high rollers, they even had ones with bars inside of them. It also overlooked the entire city and was a great way to start our last night in Singapore.

I didnt want to say goodbye and I wish I had been able to have more time in Singapore, because it was such an amazing country. It is definitely a place I would like to go back to and have more time at. It was much like home in many different ways, and it was nice to have a breather from all of our past extremely hectic, and culturally different ports.

I arrive in Vietnam in two short days. I am there for almost a week, my longest port!

Ash